THIS is the horrifying moment an Aussie surfer was mauled by a great white shark and had his leg ripped off.
Incredible footage showed a shark brutally savaging pro-surfer Kai McKenzie as he desperately tried to paddle away from the beast.
Video shows Kai, 23, being pulled underwater by the deadly great white shark in a frenzied attack.
The pro surfer was bitten on the leg by the beast at North Shore Beach, Port Macquarie at 11am on July 23.
The bite was so severe that Kai’s leg was torn off and the body part later washed up on shore.
Despite losing a leg, Kai managed to get himself back to shore where an off-duty cop used his dog’s leash as a makeshift tourniquet.
The keen surfer took to social media platform Instagram to update his concerned followers.
He said: “Man ohh f***ing man to be here right now just to f***ing be able to hold my beautiful Eve and my family is everything to me, a few days ago I went through a crazy shark attack (biggest shark I’ve ever seen) which was a very crazy scene and scared the living f**k out of me.
“It’s so cool to see so many beautiful people support me.
“There are so many messages to get back to but I wanted to say a massive thanks to everyone for your generous donations on the GoFundMe page.
“We are so very grateful for everything.”
He later shared a light-hearted photo of being surrounded by loved ones in hospital.
He captioned it: “Spot something missing?
“So good to have so many amazing people behind me. I really appreciate it.”
Onlookers covered Kai’s amputated leg with ice, according to Australian newspaper The Daily Telegraph and paramedics were called to the scene shortly.
Ambulance staff took airlifted Kai and the detached limb to Port Macquarie Base Hospital before he was flown to a major trauma centre more than 120 miles away.
The Daily Telegraph reported that his leg was transported by ferry across the Hastings River in an attempt to reattach the limb.
However, it is not known if McKenzie has undergone limb reattachment surgery.
A spokesperson for the local health district where Mr McKenzie is receiving treatment would not comment on whether reattachment surgery had been attempted, citing patient privacy.
Local biologists suspect a three-metre long white shark was responsible for attacking his right leg.
Officials reported that a tagged great white was detected at several locations at nearby Coffs Harbour on Monday and Tuesday.
The sponsored surfer suffered from a significant neck injury and only returned to the sport in January.
He has however vowed to return to the water.
The keen surfer said: “I’ll be back in the water in no time.”
Thanks to the 1975 film Jaws, great white sharks are one of the most recognisable sharks in the world.
Named after their white underbellies, great white sharks are a type of mackerel shark which includes species such as the mako shark, salmon shark and porbeagle shark.
They are considered to the world’s largest predatory fish and are estimated to live for 30 years.
On average, they grow to around 15 ft long, but some great whites have been measured at 19 ft. Their streamlined shape and powerful tails allows them to propel themselves through the water at more than 37 miles per hour.
The monster predator also has 300 sharp triangular teeth arranged in up to seven rows. Unlike humans, which only ever grow two sets of teeth, great whites keep growing new chompers as long as they live.
Great whites also have a bite force of of up to 1.8 metric tons, which allows the shark to quickly inflict massive trauma on their prey.
